Magnus Erlendsson was Earl of Orkney in the 1100s, sharing the earldom with his first cousin, Hakon Palsson. The sagas tell us that as a teenager, he was taken by the king of Norway to fight against Anglo-Norman earls in the battle of Menai Strait (1098 AD). But Magnus wouldn’t fight. He said he had no quarrel with these people. Later in life (1117), Magnus was killed on his cousin Hakon’s orders. Hakon betrayed him in the island of Egilsay, and ordered his cook, Lifolf, to kill him with an axe. Magnus’s last act was to forgive Lifolf. Magnus knelt before him, saying don’t be afraid, you didn’t want to do this. After many miracles, Magnus was declared holy in 1136, and his relics placed within the St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, where they remain to this day – axe blow to the skull still clearly visible.